Schumer Accused of 'Downright Complicity' as ICE Reform Plan Draws Backlash

Every Senate Democrat, along with a small group of Republicans, voted Thursday to block a government funding package that includes $10 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, setting the stage for a fight over proposals to rein in the agency at the center of US President Donald Trump's lawless and violent mass deportation campaign.

Ahead of the 45-55 vote, progressives voiced concern that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is on the verge of caving to Republicans and relinquishing critical leverage yet again, pointing to the emerging contours of a deal between the Democratic leader and the Trump White House as the January 30 deadline to avert a government shutdown looms. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has called the ongoing talks "very constructive."

The American Prospect's David Dayen reported Thursday morning that a possible framework under consideration would separate the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding measure—which includes $10 billion more for ICE—from the other five appropriations bills currently before the Senate.

A short-term continuing resolution—reportedly as short as two weeks and as long as six—would keep DHS funded at last year's levels as negotiations over ICE reforms continue.

Schumer said his caucus has coalesced around a series of demands, including: a prohibition on federal immigration agents wearing masks, an end to roving ICE patrols, a body camera requirement, and use-of-force polices that align with those of local and state law enforcement.

"Body cameras and new training are not nearly enough to reverse the damage and terror that CBP and ICE have inflicted on our communities."

Dayen noted that while Schumer said Senate Democrats are "united" on ICE reforms, "these asks represent quite a bit less than other demands expressed by senators over the past week."

"Arguably many of these conditions are already part of ICE and [Customs and Border Protection] standards; the problem is a lack of enforcement," Dayen wrote. "Indeed, a new directive sent to ICE agents late Wednesday night instructed them to avoid talking to community members ('agitators,' to use their word) and to only target immigrants with criminal charges or convictions. That would encompass a good chunk of the Schumer demands."

Britt Jacovich, a spokesperson for MoveOn Civic Action, expressed skepticism about the Senate Democratic leadership's demands in a statement Thursday, warning that they don't go far enough.

“With Trump’s ICE murdering our neighbors, kidnapping children, and terrorizing our streets, do Senate Democrats want to be remembered as fighters or as complicit?" Jacovich asked. "Body cameras and new training are not nearly enough to reverse the damage and terror that CBP and ICE have inflicted on our communities."

Following Thursday's vote blocking the appropriations package, Jacovich said that "Senate Democrats must continue listening to the pleas from Minnesotans, parents, schoolteachers, clergy, and the majority of Americans who want ICE reined in and hold the line until we can finally unmask these reckless agents, get ICE out of our homes, and bring families back together."

Kate Voigt, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said lawmakers' vote against the appropriations package "is a testament to the power of the people, who made their voices heard and relentlessly called on their senators to rein in ICE’s abuses."

"Public opinion is firmly against the violence, chaos, and abuse of our rights being inflicted by the Trump-Vance administration’s cruel mass deportation agenda. The American people don’t want to live in Stephen Miller’s dystopian police state," said Voigt. "We applaud the senators refusing to be complicit in these police state tactics. Now we need them to insist on real, enforceable changes to rein in ICE and Border Patrol’s increasingly dangerous immigration enforcement operations. These safeguards aren’t just common sense—they're critical to the integrity of our laws and our freedom."

Despite mounting public pressure and nationwide anger over ICE atrocities—ideal conditions for a bold reform push—progressives are wary of Schumer's ability to secure concrete changes given that, over the past year, he has engineered two Democratic surrenders in high-stakes government funding fights.

Organizer Aaron Regunberg on Thursday shared a new petition—hosted at MoveOn.org—calling on Schumer to step aside as leader of the Senate Democratic caucus.

"Chuck Schumer is poised (again) to throw away Democrats' leverage with a deal that allows ICE weeks of completely unrestrained terror in the streets, so that once public outrage has subsided and Democrats are in a much weaker position, they can (maybe) negotiate some unenforceable reforms that ICE will abide by as much as they've abided by every other law they're currently breaking," the petition reads.

"Because of the incredible organizing of hundreds of thousands of Americans on the ground, and the ultimate sacrifice of heroes like Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, Democrats were finally in a position with real leverage," the petition continues. "To abandon that fight now, as Schumer is doing, is downright complicity. Americans, Democrats, and Renee and Alex deserve so much better. Chuck Schumer must resign."